According to RBI data, credit card usage in India hit a record high in June with 88.7 million active cards, up from 87.4 million in May. Nevertheless, despite the rise in cardholders, credit card expenditure fell slightly in June, from Rs 1.40 lakh billion in May to Rs 1.37 lakh crore.

With 18.35 million cards in use, HDFC Bank retained its leadership position in the market. It was closely followed by ICICI Bank (14.8 million), SBI Card (17.34 million), and Axis Bank (12.50 million).

During the April to June quarter, HDFC Bank issued a total of 1.5 million cards, demonstrating a strong growth of 30% year over year and 10% sequentially in card expenditure. Along with the decline in card expenditure, there was a halt in the issuance of new cards. Only 9.4 lakh credit cards were added in June, despite 12 lakh cards having been issued in both May and April.

State Bank of India was the lone outlier among the main card providers, recording a 5% increase in spending. Other industry titans from the private sector, including HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank, saw drops between 2% and 6%. While SBI’s volume reached Rs. 24,981 crore in June, HDFC Bank maintained its lead with a whopping Rs. 38,716 crore in sales.

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HDFC Bank Becomes Market Leader in New Credit Card Issuance:

With 2.28 lakh new cards added in June, HDFC Bank became the market leader in terms of new credit card issuance, raising their total to an amazing 1.84 crore. SBI came in second place, adding 2.05 lakh credit cards in the same month for a total of 1.73 crore cards. While Axis Bank only produced a meagre 41,019 cards in June, ICICI Bank was able to create 1.23 lakh cards.

The RBI has been giving cautionary cautions to the banking sector over the rise of unsecured loans in the system, despite the fact that the credit card market is flourishing. One of the most extensively used instruments, credit cards have the capacity to produce unsecured loans. The RBI has repeatedly advised banks to be cautious when providing credit to this market.